The origin of the Burke Museum lies with a group called the Young Naturalists' Society that formed in the early 1880's. In 1885 this group, along with a man named Orsen Bennett Johnson, created Washington state's first natural history museum on the campus of what was then known as the Washington Territorial University. In 1899, WTU moved to what is now the University District, and became the University of Washington. What would become the Burke moved with UW and became Washington state's official Natural History museum. The founding group (the Young Naturalists' Society) disbanded in 1904. The Burke Museum was named so in 1962 after Judge Thomas Burke, due to his widow Caroline McGilvra Burke and the National Science Foundation funding the construction of the current museum building designed by James Chiarelli. The Burke Museum houses over 12 million artifacts.
As the Burke was built in the 60's, its not surprising that the exterior feels a little dated and impersonal. The interior, and its displays, however, aren't terrible. As it is Seattle's national history museum, it does what most natural history museums inevitably do: pander to small children and their parents. Unfortunately, though it is on the UW campus, it isn't particularly directed towards college kids. Most of the information on nature and natural history could be found in a high school text book. The cafe is comfortable, and was packed when I visited, but I didn't see any students actually in the museum. It's probably worth a visit on first Thursday if you have the time.
